A winners’ medal, US-style championship rings and the honor of actually winning the World Cup is not all that the Spanish players left Sunday’s final in New Jersey with.
For the second time in its history, the Spanish national team are world champions.
A goal from forward Ferran Torres in extra-time saw the European champions beat Argentina 1-0 following a largely dreadful game at the New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford.
After seeing Spain win the World Cup, what's your biggest takeaway from this year's tournament? 🤔
FIFA gave US-style championship rings to the World Cup winners but is not the only gift they bestowed upon the Spanish players.
Spain players get LEGO World Cup trophy after beating Argentina
Journalist Miguel Delaney of The Independent revealed that FIFA had given a LEGO-style trophy to the Spain squad after their World Cup victory.
David Raya, goalkeeper for English Premier League team Arsenal, was seen walking past reporters in the mixed zone holding his gift.
Spain are now enjoying a dominant era after a few years in the relative wilderness on the international stage.
While the Spanish club game has been strong, the national team struggled to scale the heights they did between 2008 and 2012 after that period ended.
For the second time in their history, they now hold both European and world championships at the same time, having previously done that between 2008 and 2014.
The only other teams to achieve that feat are West Germany (1972, 1974) and France (1998, 2000).
While it took Spain a while to grow into the tournament, the ease with which they beat France in the semi-finals saw them head into Sunday’s final against Argentina as favorites.
They dominated the world champions and though it took them a while to open the scoring, few would doubt that Spain were indeed worthy winners on the day.
Read more:
How Lamine Yamal celebrated World Cup win with little brother Keyne
Ferran Torres’ World Cup winner ends Emiliano Martinez’s insane career finals streak
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